Malaysian palm producer IOI posts quarterly loss

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 (Reuters) - Malaysian palm producer IOI Corp posted a quarterly net loss on Tuesday, hurt by foreign exchange losses and lower revenue following the brief suspension of its sustainability certificate by the industry watchdog.

For its fourth quarter ending on June 30, IOI's net loss totalled 59.6 million ringgit ($14.8 million) compared with a profit of 108.7 million ringgit in the same quarter a year ago.

Revenue slipped nearly 4 percent to 2.82 billion ringgit.

The Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in April withdrew IOI's sustainability certification after allegations the company had illegally chopped down rainforests in Indonesia and planted palm crops on peatland.

Cargill Ltd, Nestle, Unilever, Mars and Kellogg all dropped IOI as a supplier of palm oil, which is used in everything from chocolate to cosmetics.

The RSPO suspension was lifted earlier this month but many of the leading palm oil buyers said they would hold off mending business ties with IOI.

IOI on Tuesday said it had a lower contribution from its specialty oils and fats business due to the RSPO certification suspension during its fourth quarter. It also recorded a loss of 124.7 million ringgit from foreign currency translations.

($1 = 4.0250 ringgit) (Reporting by A. Ananthalakshmi; editing by David Clarke)